PLAYLIST with COMMENTS/REVIEWS

[ConcreteMascara]

Serpents - Demo 2004 cassette
The precursor to Drainland, somewhere between noise rock, hardcore and sludge. Pure negativity and I can't get enough, had this on repeat about 4 times over!

Full of Hell / Calm The Fire - Split 7"
Of all the Full of Hell material I've been submersing myself in lately, these tracks are my favorite. Straight for the jugular but with very memorable, catchy riffs. Fuck yes. And seeing these songs live, whooboy

Converge - Petitioning Forever 2xLP
These two albums drag up some really unpleasant memories of near death experiences and ungodly summer heat in high school. but i'll never outgrow this shit. FAILURE FOREVER

Salem's Pot - ...Lurar Ut Dig På Prärien CD
I don't smoke weed, but if I did this is what I'd listen to. throwback stoner doom done right. the last track Nothing Hill is especially addictive. Fucking love the vocals. Great music to listen to while sitting in front of a bonfire.

[Andrew McIntosh]

Given my temperament, I find it odd that the majority of so-called Depressive Black Metal bores me. So I find it even odder that I've been listening to Stiborg's "Solitude" a great deal. Somehow, all the usual elements work together extremely well for me. I even like the synth interludes, something I usually get very sick of with Black Metal, usually because they're done more out of obligation. On this, they sound very much part of the whole and are just as enjoyable as the actual Metal.

And as much as I don't want to join in with a chorus, this time I'm going to - Shift's "Altamont Rising" is great. Just a satisfying, teeth-into-meat Power Electronics album with a nice, gritty sound that doesn't blur the distinction between the layers of synths, samples and so on. I've found Cold Spring releases somewhat patchy, but this is very much one of the better ones.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Given my temperament, I find it odd that the majority of so-called Depressive Black Metal bores me.

I don't find it odd. I would guess most of the genre is plain annoying. While the line-in guitars and drum machines and 1 idea repeated over and over again certainly has this "I don't give a fuck" kind of feel in most passive sense of understanding it.. then this is perhaps reason why I go less for suicidal and more for genocidal works, hah...

GREY WOLVES / WERTHAM / SURVIVAL INSTINCT LP
OEC
Hmm.. While I must say that I like the line-up and I like LP overall, there are few things here why it doesn't appear as instant classic. Maybe due many years work in progress, to me it appears that Wertham or mr. Deplano in general, has since created more memorable tracks than those offered here. Grey Wolves in other hand is nice to see that they are submitting strong material and not all about recycling same sounds. Survival Instinct could be among best tracks of album, but while musically the bounding industrial sound objects malformed as beats work well, what's with the mp3 kind of low-bit rate sound quality on his first track? Absolute horror to hear such sound quality on LP! Luckily his other tracks are not that atrocious. All in all, good LP, but perhaps if this had been out... 5 years ago? Will need to spin this more, and check also bonus tape materials.

ZERO FIGURE "bona nox" tape
Posh Isolation
Short lived project of Copenhagen odd punk. Mostly very little distorted guitars, those Joy Division esque out of tune howling vocals, some good tracks. Some less memorable ones. Only one track had been published on DOKUMENT #1 double LP. This tape has the other stuff that band ever did.

CONTROL "Filth" biz card cdr
PACrec 20
Good track from Control. Very much in traditional Control style, so if you know his work, that's what we have here. I admire his skill to build tracks with complexity and density, but at the same time, tracks remind so much eachother in long run. Focusing more on very distinctive elements, so tracks wouldn't become dense mass of sound, would make them more memorable. Like this one. Nothing bad in the track, but pulling out some of the more unique sounds on top and let more usual electronics sink on the back would make it stand out as different from usual.

[urall]

dusa - ljung
kam hassah - private conversation vol. 2
hakan .l - 333ep

[FreakAnimalFinland]

PRIVY SEALS "Untitled" biz card cdr
PACrec 54
Quite sucky US noise. One of the worst titles of this series, if not worst? Useless noise rubbish.

CHARLIE DRAHEIM "untitled" cdr
PACrec 53
Other artists who I sometimes wondered, what exactly is his best works, since stuff I heard, never really stood out as particularly interesting. His most active phase fits to most popular era of USA noise of mid 2000's. There are few things in 2008-2010 but nothing lately? There is some charm in this rugged and almost directionless rough noise. Not harsh noise, not really innovative and neat sounds. Just almost random composition of various electronics, tapes and noises. Some nice cuts, little flat and narrow sonic range. I think it needs more playing that just couple of times to start open up, but still.. what's the best of Draheim?

BLUD THIRST "multiple maniacs" biz card cdr
PACrec 55
Short live solo project of Evan from Moth Drakula, Roman Torment, Wire Werewolves. Harsh noise, basic stuff. Pedals distortion. Still good, but not memorable in any way.

PETIT MAL "Flowers" biz card cdr
PACrec 31
Releases here and there from '95 till 2010? Very rarely and small scale releases. This is more of musique concrete tradition / experimental / tape manipulation than noise. Using (french, female-) spoken word and other sounds, manipulating tapes. Rewinding, pausing, speeding & slowing. Behind the speech manipulations distant sounds of horns, flutes and percussion. Good disc! Will have to check out what else I have in my collection. I assume small possibility of some of Troniks tape releases.

T.E.F. "machination of a corner" biz card cdr
PACrec27
One of the harsh noise highlights of the series. TEF was really good. I think I don't have the last release, 2010 CD he did for Dada Drumming. Didn't he announced he quit? Since glory days of USA harsh noise, until finally making real full length CD and then over? Dynamic, fast, well crafted, intense. While people could be often glorifying things like Monde Bruits "Selected Noise Works" I could easily say that within busy and hectic harsh noise chaos, this biz card disc alone is probably better than that mentioned cd, hah..

[Foyer Second]

T.E.F. "machination of a corner" biz card cdr
PACrec27
One of the harsh noise highlights of the series. TEF was really good. I think I don't have the last release, 2010 CD he did for Dada Drumming. Didn't he announced he quit? Since glory days of USA harsh noise, until finally making real full length CD and then over? Dynamic, fast, well crafted, intense. While people could be often glorifying things like Monde Bruits "Selected Noise Works" I could easily say that within busy and hectic harsh noise chaos, this biz card disc alone is probably better than that mentioned cd, hah..

I don't think he quit since a new piece is announced on the forthcoming Hard Panning compilation. But maybe it is just unreleased stuff from some years ago.
Some months ago, I listened back to some various mini-CDr I had, and remember being blown away by TEF "Archetype for Collusion", released on Pitchphase. At that time I thought it was his best work.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

T.E.F. "machination of a corner" biz card cdr
PACrec27
One of the harsh noise highlights of the series. TEF was really good. I think I don't have the last release, 2010 CD he did for Dada Drumming. Didn't he announced he quit? Since glory days of USA harsh noise, until finally making real full length CD and then over? Dynamic, fast, well crafted, intense. While people could be often glorifying things like Monde Bruits "Selected Noise Works" I could easily say that within busy and hectic harsh noise chaos, this biz card disc alone is probably better than that mentioned cd, hah..

I don't think he quit since a new piece is announced on the forthcoming Hard Panning compilation. But maybe it is just unreleased stuff from some years ago.
Some months ago, I listened back to some various mini-CDr I had, and remember being blown away by TEF "Archetype for Collusion", released on Pitchphase. At that time I thought it was his best work.

That 3"CDr is really good one! I think many other good ones on that label too. Kazuma Kubota 3"CDR on that label is absolutely brain-meltingly well done release. Too bad it's cdr's.. I think 20 mins length release without interruptions is possible most suitable for vast majority of noise.

That said, more c. 20 mins doses on playlist today:

JIM O'ROUKE "Rules Of Seduction" 3"CD
Metamkine
sound collages made with lots of field recordings and various other sound sources. VERY drastic volume changes and some neat moments, but I don't think it's near the best releases on this series.

JEAN-FRANCOIS LAPORTE "Mantra" 3"CD
Metamkine
This one I always liked. It's perfect drone music made out of echoing metallic sounds. To explain further, it's almost like clicks of metronome or something like that, with FAST and loud delay, making these tiny repetitive sounds mutate into highly crisp and electric droning sound. It's different from a lot of stuff with synths or naturally droning sounds. Now its like picking up shorters and most dry sounds and attempt to use other means than reverb to get in trance inducing quality.

DOMINIQUE PETITGAND "10 petites compositions familiales" 3"CD
Metamkine
Odd release. 10 short compositions of adult female and little girl talks and some delicate accordion sounds. Can't understand at all what the french people say, but I'm very much liking the simple accordion tones and girl talking.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

CHOP-SHOP "Tension Charge Discharge" 3"CD
CHOP-SHOP "Smolder" 3"CD
V2 Archief
1994 and 1998 mini CD releases are perfect examples of Chop Shop. Maybe I still like the most his "Steel Plate" 2x10", but these two releases are brilliant nevertheless. Routine is basically: short few second clips of various noisy & rotten sounds run through self-build speakers than transform any noise into rusty and rugged form. Always 1 sound at the time, and never for long time. So it's like puzzle of short clips of various levels of volume/noisiness. Sometimes just rusty hum, sometimes all-out noise blast. Its hard to talk about "composition". He just picks up good moment of some kind of hiss and then moves on to next. Older disc is more quiet (volume level), but it's easy to adjust you stereos and basically one can play both, one after another, and it could be even same session.

JAZZKAMMER "Sound of music" 3"CD
Ohm
My favorite Jazzkammer disc. It has harsh noise edge on surface, but also musical qualities to it. Under top layer of distorted electronics, you find almost melodic tonality and forceful electronic bass. Soon loops, experimental acoustic instrument sounds, all blend together in mix perfectly. Utterly clear sound and digitally sharp. Eerie and neat distorted drones take you to final parts of disc. This melodic distorted drone stuff appears quite popular now, but somehow I don't see people getting horny about this as much as Prurient or LR perhaps?

[bitewerksMTB]

"All the Colors of the Dark" soundtrack LP on Finders Keepers- this sucker sounds GREAT! Lots of detail, clean, etc. Simple black vinyl, no thick-as-brick gatefold. The cover art is weird.  I haven't watched the film in awhile so I'm not sure what trees have to do with it? It'd be nice to have Edwige on the cover but the trees are growing on me. It reminds me of a record you'd buy in a used store for a dollar & have no clue what you're getting.

Yeah, Kevin of T.E.F. is still around. He definitely flies under the radar; someone should offer him a full-length LP...

[FreakAnimalFinland]

ELIANE RADIGUE "Biogenesis" 3"CD
Metamkine
1973 piece, I assume performed 1974 and this somehow mastered studio version 1995. If someone said this is lo-fi tape experiments from current band (sweden for example, heh..), I would have believed instantly. Subtle, very quiet, but hand made feel to it. Tape hiss, minimal progression. Sometimes sounds almost like bongo drums would be captured on tape and mutated into magnetic sound what saturates into other things.

RALF WEHOWSKY "Nameless Victim" 3"CD
Metamkine
1994/1995 musique concrete piece. Quiet, but nice. Assembling sound pieces into nice sound collages, where lots of attention to dynamic and timing.

ALAIN DE FILIPPIS "Ton Dieu Ne S' appelle-t-il pas ego?" 3"CD
Metamkine
What has this guy done? According to discogs, nothing but this and one CD on Groundfault. Both good stuff. His old site no longer online. This item from 1993 and 2001 full length. What else? Electro acoustic music with intensity and extreme talent in craftsmanship. Weird that there wouldn't be more releases.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

CHRISTINE GROULT "L'Huere alors S'Incline..." 3"CD
Metamkine
Very good disc. Even if this is labeled under musique concrete, one could perhaps throw word like "dark ambient" here too. Good usage of various sound sources, but all in all, it's just well done calm and dark sound. And certainly beats a lot of lazy keyboard dark ambient anytime.

CHOP-SHOP "Hello, this is chop scott" biz card cdr
Banned
Being more recent release, one can see higher level of loudness and clarity, compared to 90's discs. Also style here is different. No cuts at all. Just one piece of noise wall. While Chop Shop has been admittedly crucial influence for projects like Werewolf Jerusalem, even without Ramirez pointing that out in several occasions, I think listening releases like this makes it pretty obvious influence!

STROM.ec "Malignant Stalin" biz card cdr
Neuroscan
Year 2000 being recording date, sets this between debut and second albums. Released 2005. Finnish hi-tech power electronics assault, with great vocals and great vocal effects. I like the amount of detail included in vocals, like adding reversed reverbs before main verse of vocals start. Small things, but sets it apart from A LOT of PE groups where vocals are shouted though effect that's always the same. Highly distorted, very digital feel to this, but in somehow good way. Neat packaging, 50 was made.

GELSOMINA "Iron man" biz card cdr
Corrosive Art
Perhaps one should say this is one of the many Gelsomina/Bizarre Uproar team works? All sound sources are from Bizarre Uproar and Gelsomina is doing vocals and editing. This is Gelsomina when he started to sound like Sick Seed. No more hyper distorted textured harsh noise walls, but metal junk rhythms, fierce vocals spewing obscenities and lo-fi quality junk smashing. This would stand in perfectly in "Great Corrupter" era Sick Seed release.

[Henrik III]

JEAN-FRANCOIS LAPORTE "Mantra" 3"CD
Metamkine
This one I always liked. It's perfect drone music made out of echoing metallic sounds. To explain further, it's almost like clicks of metronome or something like that, with FAST and loud delay, making these tiny repetitive sounds mutate into highly crisp and electric droning sound. It's different from a lot of stuff with synths or naturally droning sounds. Now its like picking up shorters and most dry sounds and attempt to use other means than reverb to get in trance inducing quality.

This is a fantastic work, probably my favorite of the entire series and drone music in general. If I remember right this is based on ice hockey rink cooling system recordings apparently with only some EQ applied.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

HALTHAN "Poetic Justice" biz card cdr
Corrosive Art
Not even close as intense as Halthan stuff I wrote some days ago. Software synths, very much the home-with-computer feel to this. Flanged vocals may actually be better than all-out shouting. Think Ex.Order, Survival Unit, etc..  but what the fuck with this "Cops Are Pigs" sample used over and over again? At least my disc has short digital glitch in middle of 1st track.

OVUM "avsky" biz card cdr
PACrec24
Noise with quite awful vocals what get louder by the end. Beginning is average solid noise piece, but vocals are just too annoying here.

CIRCADIAN "Termite On The Surgeon's Shoulder" biz card cdr
PACrec 21
Guys of Gruntsplatter & Nothing doing co-project. There is on CD on Eibon label (ita), but no recollection how that was. This is quite hi-tech filter dominated noises. Distorted and busy filter work, but never hugely harsh in terms of pressure and sheer brutality. Nice release, though.

LUC FERRARI "Unheimlich Schön" 3"CD
Metamkine
Musique Concrete from 1971. Sensual female voice repeats the title about ever 5 seconds, moderate effects are being added slowly and breathing sounds. On 10 minute mark track has reached its peak and last 5 mins doesn't grow further. Very very minimalistic, but real time old school echo/delay type of modulations are tasty. I remember when I listened this perhaps 10 years ago and was quite sure not to listen it again, I think there is still something worth to keep it for the future!

[FreakAnimalFinland]

PROPERGOL "Naked." biz card cdr
PACrec 29
This release goes after Renegade CD on Tesco. Very noisy piece for Propergol. Pretty much harsh noise, but it has the same computer edited hi-tech feel to it. No samples, so musical patterns, but just very much computer noise.

It appears I'm missing following titles of series. Any people into trading stuff - and not some wishful thinking a'la Discogs sellers thinking these would be of high value, get in touch!
Navicon Torture Technologies Psychoheavy ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec007
Lefthandeddecision vs. Navicon Torture Technologies  A Morte Perpetva (Jvstvs Mors) ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec011
Slogun Just Because ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd, Num)   PACrec030
Never Presence Forever Scum ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec041  2003     
Cherry Point, The Drained Blood ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec042  2004     
Cherry Point, The Grisly Death ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec043  2004     
Knüppel* / Schmitt*  Radioarbeit 1-5 ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec044  2004     
Pedestrian Deposit Woman / Evaporating ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec045  2004     
Rita, The Weimar Whores ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec046
Andorkappen & Cherry Point, The  Collaboration ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec049  2005     
Mike Shiflet Vulture Sonnet ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd, Num)   PACrec052
Treriksröset Fuck Pete Larson ‎(CDr, B/card, Ltd)   PACrec056

[Foyer Second]

JEAN-FRANCOIS LAPORTE "Mantra" 3"CD
Metamkine
This one I always liked. It's perfect drone music made out of echoing metallic sounds. To explain further, it's almost like clicks of metronome or something like that, with FAST and loud delay, making these tiny repetitive sounds mutate into highly crisp and electric droning sound. It's different from a lot of stuff with synths or naturally droning sounds. Now its like picking up shorters and most dry sounds and attempt to use other means than reverb to get in trance inducing quality.

This is a fantastic work, probably my favorite of the entire series and drone music in general. If I remember right this is based on ice hockey rink cooling system recordings apparently with only some EQ applied.

He was invited to present some of his works at the Audible Festival (France) last year and "Mantra" was one piece that he played on the fantastic acousmonium (it sounded loud and amazing). He told us that there was no overdub, just a recording of this systems that resonate and that he made like 220 takes until getting the one he was looking for. Probably an exaggeration to be funny but still...